This demotivational poster is anti-Rumiko Takahashi. If you are a fan of her, I suggest you try reading this with a grain of salt or be willing to read this with critical eyes. For those of you who do not really like her as a creator, let alone a writer, enjoy what I have to dish out.
My experience with Rumiko Takahashi goes back to when I was a five-year-old child and I watched the first Ranma 1/2 movie “Big Trouble in Nekonron, China”. I remembered enjoying the fight scene between Ranma and Kirin as well as the whole concept of Ranma being turned into a girl with a douse of cold water and turning back into a boy with a douse of hot water. As a child, I was enjoying the film for what it was, which was a fun, action-filled romp filled with colorful characters.
Fast forward to when I was an eleven-year-old fifth grader and visiting some family friends in Minneapolis where I first encountered Inuyasha on Adult Swim. The only character who ever captivated me at that age was, of course, my favorite dog hanyou of all time, Inuyasha, turning into a full yokai with fiery red eyes and two purple stripes on his cheeks and absolutely obliterating Goshinki with his bare claws while shirtless, as his Tessaiga was destroyed by Goshinki’s fangs. However, the likes of Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, and…ugh…Kagome never captivated me in the slightest. After that episode, the next character to have caught my eye was Inuyasha’s brother, Sesshoumaru, in all of his fierce majesty. This marked one of the first moments where I became a huge fan of the Inu brothers.
Then came the time I was a full-fledge anime and manga lover at twelve years old when I caught Urusei Yatsura on Animax and was completely enthralled by the madcap misadventures Ataru got himself into with Lum and her crazy family.
At age thirteen, helped by a trip to Hawaii and my Holiday break in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Washington DC, I caught more Inuyasha episodes plus the first two Inuyasha movies and I was more intrigued by this series, even though I did not care for Inuyasha and Kagome as a couple in the slightest iota.
By the time I was fourteen years old, I found myself being immensely immersed in Inuyasha probably far more than Takahashi-san’s other works such as Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, Mermaid Forest, and Urusei Yatsura mostly because this was the series I held most dearly to me. It also helped that I not only loved Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha as characters but also Ayame, Kohaku, Souta, Rin, Kanna, Shiori, and, yes, even Kikyou. I occasionally also fancied Kagura because of her amazing wind powers and I enjoyed hating Naraku’s guts so much.
So, why did I bring up those moments as a teenager with those series Takahashi created? It is because nowadays as a 28-year-old man, I have learned to see the many cracks, flaws, and screw-ups in a number Rumiko Takahashi’s most famous works namely Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha. While I do enjoy these shows to this day, especially Inuyasha, I cannot help but look at this creator with a more critical eye.
A couple of things I can give Rumiko Takahashi credit for are that she can make really lovely character designs and she can apply Japanese word play in a fun and engaging way.
However, in terms of character designs, there are several occasions where characters look like other characters and do not always stand out too much. Case in point would be how Kyoko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku does look like an older version of Kagome Higurashi from Inuyasha. Nevertheless, the art style and character designs are quite nice to look at when handled by the right animation team.
Wordplay-wise I do enjoy how certain expressions used by Takahashi can mean various things, but still make the viewers astounded. For example, Kyoko Otonashi’s family name Otonashi means without a sound. However, the pun used, otto-nashi, means without a husband, which references her status as a widow before meeting Yusaku Godai.
Unfortunately, this is where I stop with the slight amount of admiration I have for Takahashi-san because of certain themes I have been observing popping up from anime series such as Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, and especially Inuyasha, which they cannot be ignored at all.
Firstly, there are the abundant love triangles which have a tendency to be contrived, annoying, and very akin to watching a soap opera. Inuyasha’s whole turmoil choosing between Kikyou and Kagome really did tend to be a pain in the backside because of the history that happened between him and Kikyou and even the growing feelings Kagome had for Inuyasha. There are times I found myself thinking just how much time could have been spent on a whole lot more character development other than these soap opera moments and just move on.
Secondly, most of main female characters draw a super fine line between being a tsundere and being an absolute jackass at best and dumbass-in-distress at worst. This is why I could never endeavor to enjoy Akane’s and Kagome’s nearly constant abuse on Ranma and Inuyasha. At least what makes Akane a tad bit better than Kagome is that she can use her physical strength really well. Unfortunately, for Kagome, she has several moments where she could never adapt well to her Feudal Era environment, thinks she could use the Beads of Subjugation as a means to show her dominance towards Inuyasha, and she even started the whole search for the Shikon Jewel fiasco because of her poor aim with the bow and arrow. What is even worse about Kagome is that she does not grow as a character and becomes this manipulative, whiny, stupid brat of a jackass all because of Takahashi not knowing how to make characters like her grow properly. I could say the same thing about Sango, as she is strong on the outside but easily manipulated on the inside who ended up being a breeding mare to a perverted monk. Seriously, the double standards used are absolutely mind-boggling to witness and truly draining to make any endeavor viewing these characters act like such jackasses, especially in a relationship. This is a notion I despise with the girl abusing the guy because it is funny, but when the guy does it, he is automatically horrible for doing so.
Speaking of perverted monk, especially since I will mention him in this paragraph, my third reason for not liking Rumiko Takahashi is also attributed to her skewered perspective on male characters, especially the perverts. Miroku and Happosai are two sides of the same coin, as they gallivant around trying to have a go at fondling and peeping at a lot of girly parts for their pleasure. In Miroku’s case, his whole motive for asking various women to bear his children is because he wants to make sure that his children can live his legacy. If that means doing the same thing their father has done, Miroku would definitely be a crummy role model. As for Happosai, he is a pervert because he thinks he can do whatever he likes with women. This leads me to convict that Rumiko Takahashi does not have a great view on men in general.
Fourthly, there is an abundance of Karmic relationships found in her famous works. TV Tropes brands couples who argue one moment and make love the next moment as the Takahashi couples coined after a lot of the “couples” in Takahashi-san’s works. Unfortunately, those moments of bickering, shouting, and whinging are going to spiral out of control into something completely unhealthy and unfulfilling. Even back then when I was a child, I could never ever stomach Inuyasha’s and Kagome’s constant whinging, moaning, whining, and yelling because of how irritating it was and how it spelled unhealthy relationship, thus making me absolutely hate, loathe, and spit venom at InuKag for life. I could also say the same thing about Miroku’s and Sango’s fart of a relationship, considering the many times he has been fondling her and he deservedly ended up getting smacked and knocked out and the many times he has been asking several other women who were not Sango to bear his children. Any more of these types of “couples” and I will scream my guts out.
My fifth reason also has to go to the Karma Houdinis from Takahashi’s creations. From Happosai getting away with being a borderline rapist to Kouga getting away with murder, there is nothing that boils my blood even more than these felons getting away with a crime and not paying for it.
Sixth has to go to characters who might have served a purpose at first but have ended up being entirely useless. Inuyasha, as always, has been popping up as to what makes me disillusioned by certain characters who are supposed to be fighting alongside our beloved main protagonist but have ended up going to the wayside. It is a huge pity when Miroku, Sango, Kagome, Shippou, and Myoga become nothing more than useless characters who could barely fight for crap whenever Inuyasha tends to go at battles alone when it could have been a team effort. Even more pitiful is Kouga who after seeing his comrades slaughtered by Kagura wanted to avenge his fallen friend. However, after his jewel shards were taken by Naraku, he just up and left the Inu Gang and undeservedly ended up with Ayame without even helping out Inuyasha and his “friends” defeat Naraku.
Seventh is attributed to the stupidly contrived endings. The Shikon Jewel being the main villain and having Inuyasha wait for Kagome for three years until she graduated from high school were the biggest letdowns from Inuyasha because it displayed how Kagome could not get her priorities right and Takahashi’s usage of plot contrivance. It also did not help matters that Kagura and Kanna could have redeemed themselves to join Sesshoumaru and help him destroy Naraku once and for all. Sometimes, the more I watch Inuyasha: The Final Act, the more I realize that this was a last ditch journey for the heroes to be done and over with the Inuyasha series once and for all.
Finally, there have been a lot of likable side characters who could have risen above their few appearances and actually contributed a whole lot more to the story, but they ended up bowing down to the whole Status Quo is God mantra. For example, Bankotsu may have been a worthy adversary to Inuyasha because they measure up in strength, but he could have been redeemed and purified to join the Inu Gang and be a great friend to Inuyasha. Unfortunately, he ended up being permanently killed off by Naraku, which was a major shame.
For someone who is hailed as “The Princess of Manga”, Takahashi or Bakahashi does not do a great job of developing the characters and their relationships, building healthier relationships, not relying on Status Quo is God, and not caving in to contrived endings. While there have been moments of humor found in her works, the humor did tend to become monotonous and grating after a while. I can only look to Kagome’s sit commands, Akane’s battery of Ranma, and Ataru’s lust for more women as examples of the humor being truly sick and grating.
I hope you all enjoyed me ripping into Rumiko Takahashi as a writer and I will see you in the next submission. Take care and stay safe, everybody.
